I performed this ritual Ostara of 2007 with two of my children and three more children that belonged to a friend of mine. There was only one other adult present so I had to make this quick and simple for the kids. Not an easy task. The whole ritual only took 40 minutes. It was one of the last in-person rituals I performed with my daughter. She was killed in a car accident April of 2015 so until I cross over there will be no more rites with her.
Finding this brought back some poignant memories and I wanted to share simply to keep her work alive.
Statement of Purpose: The welcoming of spring to the land.
Processional: Walked to the altar singing ‘We Approach the Sacred Grove’
We approach the sacred grove,
With hearts and minds and flesh and bone,
Join us now in ways of old,
We have come home.
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Now this particular part usually sounds like a dirge, however by speeding the tempo up and singing it in a slightly higher key, the kids made is sound a lot more upbeat and sacred. We also included a tambourine and a small drum to keep the tempo light.
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Offerings to the outsiders: A whole gallon of mead that I had made where we offered to a corner of the yard that was a bit shady and kind of eerie looking due to excess foliage.
Hammer Rite: This is a basic blessing where you make the sign of the hammer (Thor’s) in each of the four directions then above and below saying the following:
Hammer of the (direction), hold and hallow this holy stead
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My oldest son really enjoyed this part. He had to be shown which direction to turn, but his voice carried quite nicely.
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Honoring the Earth Mother ~ Nerthus
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Nerthus was an ancient Germanic earth goddess. Tacitus recorded that each year there was festival where the goddess would supposedly traveled in a chariot pulled by two white heifers, escorted by the priest. No one was allowed to take up war or bear arms during the festivities. Even iron tools were locked up during the goddess’ journey. It was good luck for those settlements she visited in her journey.
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At this point we sang another song. The kids really liked to sing and they thought this song was very pretty and simple:
Blossom Lifter
Earth Mother, Blossom Lifter
Bless what we eat,
Bless what we drink,
Bless what we harrow,
And bless what we sow.
Earth Mother, Blossom Lifter
Bloom with the wheat
Bloom with the rye
Bloom with barley,
And Bloom with all grain
Earth Mother, Blossom Lifter
With all these things,
Let us rejoice…
You give to us,
And we give to you.
Offerings were then made to the Earth Mother (my daughter offered cornmeal)
Bardic Inspiration ~ Bragi
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My son did this part as well. He mainly said, ‘please don’t let us say something bad’. Simple and to the point. I liked it.
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Grounding and Meditation (desperately needed at this point due to the children, but was accomplished by simply having the kids close their eyes and take a couple of deep breaths)
Gatekeeper ~ Norns (I offered incense as we were outside)
Opening the gates ~ lighting the candles to the 9 realms
Asgard – land of the Aesir
Vanaheim – land of the Vanie
Alfheim – land of the Alfar
Midgard – land of man
Jotenheim – land of the frost giants
Muspelheim – land of fire
Helheim – land of the dead/ancestors
Niflheim – land of ice
Svartalfheim – land of dwarves
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All this entailed was having the kids take turns lighting the candles and opening the gates. They did so by saying
‘With this candle burning bright, let the gates of (name) be opened wide.’
It was short and simple. And by making it sort of rhyme the kids were able to remember for each gate. The tricky part was teaching them how to pronounce the various realms.
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Once all the candles were lit, we all threw our arms out and shouted ‘Let the gates be open!’
Offerings to the three kindreds while singing the portal song:
Fire and Water
Chorus:
By Fire and by Water, between the Earth and Sky
We stand like the World-Tree rooted deep, crowned high.
Come we now to the Well, the eye and the mouth of Earth,
Come we now to the Well, and silver we bring,
Come we now to the Well, the waters of rebirth,
Come we now to the Well, together we sing
Chorus
We will kindle a fire, Bless all, and with harm to none,
We will kindle a Fire, and offering pour,
We will kindle a Fire, A light ‘neath the Moon & Sun,
We will kindle a fire, our spirits will soar
Chorus
Gather we at the Tree, the root & the crown of all,
Gather we at the Tree, Below & above,
Gather we at the Tree, Together we make our call,
Gather we at the Tree, In wisdom and love.
Chorus
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Coming from another group, we sang the chorus twice in between each verse. We also clapped our hands, tapped our feet, swayed, danced and sang louder and with smiles on our faces. I have taught my children that honoring the kindreds should be a joyful, happy experience. This song is NOT a slow one, nor is it a dirge. By making it fun and bouncy the kids learned it faster and loved to participate.
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Deity of the Occasion: Eostre
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We had made colored, hardboiled eggs for decorating her altar. We also had a plate of goodies that we offered. Eggs, fruit, the first flowers of spring were all decorating the hearth and placed on a plate specifically for Eostre. Remember, with kids you have to keep it on their level.
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Omen ~ Runes
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For this I had each of the children draw a rune (three total) and gave them the basic meaning for each rune. I then had them ‘meditate’ on how they thought that rune applied to the group as a whole. While I do not remember what the actual reading was I do remember that what they came up with was actually very good. Having the kids participate and actively work within the ritual made them want to do more.
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Sumble ~ passing the horn one time around the group accepting the blessings of the reading and honoring any other deities they felt called to.
Thanked and said goodbye to Eostre
Thanked the Kindreds
Closed the gates – put out the candles while saying:
Now the candle light is gone, let the gates of (name) be closed
(didn’t rhyme but it was still simple) Once all the candles were out, we then closed our arms around ourselves and shouted ‘Let the gates be closed’
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Children are very visual and physical. By having us throw our arms out to open the gates and then close them around ourselves at the end it helped the children know that there was a definite difference and gave them a clue that things were winding down.
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Thanked the Norns for watching the gates
Thanked Bragi (as my son would say ‘For not letting us say anything bad’)
Thanked the Earth Mother
Rite is ended.
We then feasted in the house to celebrate spring.